And I got out for a run today. Nothing special, just 3K, but at least it’s a start and I definitely needed winter tights today – brrrrrr. Unfortunately I left my ipod in the on position the last time I used it, so the battery was drained and I couldn’t use my nike + ipod to record my run. I set up a goal for myself on nikeplus.com to run 12 times in 4 weeks (3 runs/week), so it’s a bit of a piss off that I won’t get credit for this run. Does anyone know if you can manually enter runs? Much as I love my Nike +, there certainly are a few things I hate about it:
1) Choosing music to run to – I can’t choose which songs to play based on artist, album, song title etc… To do that I have to create a playlist on iTunes, which requires way more organization than I’m capable of.
2) Transmitter battery life – Once the battery power in the sensor is gone there’s no way to replace the battery. Instead you have to buy a whole new Nike + system for $35+. My first one only lasted 1 year – now I ask for a new system every Christmas.
3) iPod Battery – I hate that the battery on my iPod is internal only. It’s nice that I’m not always buying new batteries for it, but it’s a PITA when I forget to charge it, or leave it in the on position. It would be nice to have the option of using an external energy source. I know there are external energy sources for iPods, but I don’t believe you can use them while using the Nike +. I haven’t run very long distances with my Nike + Sport Kit, but I often wonder would the battery last during the 4 hours it would take me to run a marathon? What about through the 4 + hour long runs I used to do?
4) Armbands – The iPod Nano doesn’t fit nicely in an armband with the Nike + Receptor in place. I usually just put the Nano in the armband upside down, but when I pull it out of the arm band I have to be careful not to pull by the Nike + receptor, otherwise it can come out and lose the history of my run (trust me, it happened to me once).
5) Run tracking – if I eff up and don’t charge my Nano, or pull the Nano out of the armband by the receptor there’s no way that I know of to manually enter my run onto the nikeplus.com. Therefore I lose credit for my runs in challenges and in my goals 
6) No integrated heart rate monitor. It would totally rock if the receptor could receive signals from a device similar to a polar heart rate strap, then display a graphical representation of my heart rate on nikeplus.com with the graphical representation of my run.
7) No ability to set time alarms – ie: I run for 10 min walk for 1 min. It would be nice to be able to program the iPod to “ring” at those intervals.
Now that I’ve bashed the crap out of my Nike +, here are the things I love about it:
1) Recording my run time/distance and average pace. It’s nice to know how fast/slow I run and being able to check back on nikeplus.com (or on my iPod too for that matter) is nice for record keeping and recording progress.
2) Seeing a graphical representation of my run on nikeplus.com – it’s a great way of seeing where I typically slow down or speed up during a run
3) Light weight, compact and unobtrusive. When I first began running I ran with a monstruous portable CD player that I wore in a waist pouch on my back or even a Sony “Walkman”. If I wanted to know more about my run I’d also need to carry a GPS like a garmin or a pedometer.
4) The ability to participate in challenges, create goals and get a training plan from nikeplus.com.
So, does anyone know of a running product out there that does everything I love about my Nike + Sport Kit AND addresses all of the things I HATE about it? What would you recommend that I place on my Christmas wish list?
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Well there’s a whole bunch of stuff that I have no idea what you’re talking about… not being a runner over here (and I thought Nike was shoes, so the receptor thing….).
jafers last blog post..The Doctor
I switched to the Polar RS200 + S1 foot pod for a lot of the reasons you listed. But I’ll get to that later. First, here are some things I learned in my 1-2 years of using the N+.
1. Losing your run data for whatever reason is a major piss off as you’ve discovered. Headed to the finish line at my first half marathon, I was fiddling with the buttons trying to get the PowerSong to play, so I could speed across the finish with my favorite song BOOMING in my ears. Yet somehow I managed to blow away the whole 13 mile workout. Gone. This colored my first half marathon experience to say the least. Anyway, you can do it, but it requires some hacking that you might not be comfortable with. It won’t hurt your nano or n+, but it’s a tad on the technical side. Read this thread (http://runpl.us/forum/discussion/232/new-nike-editor-for-xml-files-pc-only/) and study the links it references. You don’t need to buy the utility they are talking about; you can do the same thing it does by hand. Or buy it. I dunno. Not being able to easily manually enter/edit a run is a HUGE problem, IMO.
2. Battery life. Nike wised up a little bit and allows you to buy just the receiver, rather than a whole new kit. I don’t know how it translates into that play money you use up in Canada, but down here it’s about US$10 cheaper. Ideally, all batteries in all devices ought to be replaceable. This is a flaw in both N+ and iPods, IMO.
3. Armbands. Ugh. At the time I bought my armband, Nike had this idiotic band that didn’t have a window for the ipod screen. I know, right? So I cut a hole with scissors and “hemmed” it with my mediocre sewing skills. Now, they have bands for all nano models that seem to be pretty decent.
4. Time alarms. You can sort of do that if you set your run by time rather than by distance. But it will only read off 10 minute increments. That worked fine for me because I run a 10 minute mile or so. When I was training for my first half marathon, I would run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 9 minutes, walk one, etc. the following Nike+ cues. Again, would be better if this was configurable.
But I also agree with you on Nike+’s advantages. The polar website, where I upload my workout data, has a much less slick interface, fewer graphs, fewer social networking features, and NO BLOG WIDGETS which I complain about loudly every chance I get.
Edwards last blog post..Legs are funny things
If you want to take this offline, especially the manual entry of N+ runs, which I have done a couple times, email me.
Edwards last blog post..Legs are funny things
I wish I had the motivation to start running agian … GOD I miss the solitude. I have no idea how to help you, but CONGRATULATIONS on gettting started again. YEA YOU!!! WOOT WOOT WOOT!
I feel terrible that I have not been running. I need to find my mojo again. grrr
chelles last blog post..ROAD TRIP!